Port Hedland tug boat workers to strike

If the strike proceeds it will be the first time AIMPE workers have walked off the job at the port and marks the first strike since an unlawful four-hour stop work meeting at the port by the Maritime Union of Australia in 2011.
AFR

Australia’s largest port, the Port of Port Hedland, will be rocked by industrial action this weekend that will threaten $100 million in daily iron ore exports after tug boat engineers issued strike notices on Teekay Shipping.

The notice, served on Teekay on Wednesday, means the 52 members of the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers will walk off the job for four hours on Saturday morning, four hours on Monday morning and four hours on Wednesday morning.

Export delays for BHP, Fortescue

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If the strike proceeds it will be the first time Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers workers have walked off the job at the port and marks the first strike since an unlawful four-hour stop work meeting at the port by the Maritime Union of Australia in 2011.

The MUA, which represents the tug boat deckhands, has threatened to strike but despite issuing notices in different disputes at Dampier and Fremantle it has so far kept its powder dry at Port Hedland.

The Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers says its action has been timed to coincide with the low tide to cause as minimal disruption for the port as possible.

It will mean ships being loaded with ore will be able to leave the port on the high tide but many vessels waiting offshore will be significantly delayed or left stranded.

Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers senior national organiser Andrew Williamson said that his members had become frustrated after more than a year of negotiations with Teekay.

“They are incredibly frustrated by the protracted nature of the dispute," Mr Williamson said.

He said exports would be delayed but that the union had tried to minimise the impact by co-ordinating the action with the low tide.

The engineers will walk off the job at 3.15am on Saturday unless the pay dispute is resolved beforehand with Teekay.

Port Hedland port is the world’s largest bulk export port and has been breaking export records this year as massive expansions by BHP Billiton and Fortescue funnel more ore to port.

In June, 1.27 million tonnes or ore was exported on one tide across seven capsized vessels.

Year-long talks go no where

Mr Williamson said crew members were regularly working more than the standard 12 hour shift. He said one crew member worked an 18 hour shift in May and there were more members notifying the tug boat skippers that they were fatigued.

The tug boat engineers earn $225,000 base salary, making them the highest paid in the country.

Engineers, who at Port Hedland earn as much as the tug boat skippers, are highly skilled workers, who need a minimum of about eight years experience at sea. They perform maintenance on the vessels.

But Mr Williamson argues that the surging workloads at the port – as the mining industry shifts from the construction boom to the production boom – is forcing more of its workers to work beyond their 12 hour shifts more often.

The workers want to cap the 12 hour shift, a standard shift for workers in the mining industry. This means they would forgo lucrative penalty payments. The union estimates it would require Teekay to employ a further six crews to ensure shifts are maintained to 12 hours.

The engineers also want an additional 3.5 per cent salary increase.

BHP and Fortescue have warned that thousands of jobs are at risk if the port shut and that the unions were holding the companies and the nation’s economy to ransom.

Fortescue had planned to seek an intervention via the Fair Work Commission if industrial action took place by arguing it would face significant economic hardship.

All of Fortescue’s iron ore exports leave Port Hedland.

The West Australian government has also been working on a possible submission to prevent any industrial action.

Mr Williamson said a 30 per cent jump in exports in the past year had increased maintenance demands for its members and was increasing fatigue among the engineers.

Tug boats operate using a “crew", which consist of a skipper, engineer and deckhand. The vessels can not operate if one of the crew members is not on board.

“If they want to ramp up the exports, the consequence of that is we need extra crews," Mr Williamson said.